Two mana points.
That was Kai's entire gain from a day of exhausting himself to the point of collapse. [Mana: 29/29].
He sat in the dusty courtyard the next morning, the Paradox Bracer a cool, heavy presence on his wrist. The impossible math haunted him. Six days. Seventy-one mana points to go. Simple division said he needed to gain nearly twelve per day. Yesterday's gain was two. The gap was a chasm.
The old Kai would have despaired. The new Kai, the one with a System and a dead man's resolve, started to think in loopholes.
The System said he'd gained the mana through "repeated exertion at your limits." Was the limit physical? Mental? Or was it the act of using his Creation Priest skills themselves?
He stood up, ignoring the lingering fatigue in his spirit. He faced the rusted bin. He cast 'Minor Blessing of Agility'. The golden thread flowed. Mana drained: [24/29]. He watched the bin for thirty seconds. Nothing. It was a bin. It didn't move. Could a blessing on an inanimate object even do anything? The System didn't say it couldn't.
He waited for his mana to tick back to 25, then cast 'Minor Curse of Heaviness' on the same bin. Violet light. Drain: [20/29]. The bin didn't feel heavier. But as Kai stared, a new line of text appeared in his vision.
[Target: Iron Waste Bin.]
[Status: Corroded, Empty. Status: 'Conceptually Weighted' (Duration: 20s).]
Conceptually Weighted. The words sparked something. He wasn't just adding physical mass. He was altering its… state of being in relation to gravity. The effect was meaningless on a stationary object, but the principle was everything.
He spent the morning in a brutal cycle. Bless the weed. Curse the beetle. Bless a patch of dirt. Curse a passing cloud (the spell fizzled, costing 5 mana for nothing—range limit). He was a mad scientist of marginal effects, pushing his tiny mana pool to empty over and over. The headache returned, a constant companion. His body ached with a strange, non-physical exhaustion.
By noon, after six cycles, he was a trembling mess. But his mana pool read: [31/31].
Four points. Not twelve. But it was double yesterday's gain. A pattern? Diminishing returns? He needed more data.
The lunch rush at Elara's Hearth was a welcome distraction. The physical labor—hauling stew pots, scrubbing plates—was almost soothing. It required no thought, just motion. He could feel his mana regenerating slowly as he worked, the rhythm of the restaurant acting as a passive recharge.
"Kai, table three needs clearing," Elara called, her voice cutting through the din.
He moved with a tray, weaving between crowded tables. His [Analyze] flickered on passively, a habit he was forming.
[Customer: Human. Status: 'Hungry', 'Slight Back Pain'.]
[Customer: Human. Status: 'Content', 'Mildly Intoxicated (Ale)'.]
It was trivial information. But it was practice. He was learning to parse data instantly, to filter the noise.
Then he saw her. A woman sitting alone in the corner, picking at a meat pie. She wore the grey and blue uniform of the City Militia—the home guard for non-combat Awakeneds and strong mundanes. Her face was etched with deep fatigue, and her right arm was in a sling. But it was her status that made Kai's steps falter.
[Analyze: Human Awakened (E-Rank Estimate). Class: 'Guardian Sentinel'.]
[Status: 'Moderate Fracture (Right Ulna)', 'Mana Depletion', 'Persistent Debuff: Rot-Weakness (Stage 1)'.]
Debuff. The word lit up in his mind like a flare. A negative status effect, already applied. Not by him. By something else. Rot-Weakness. He'd never heard of it.
He cleared the adjacent table slowly, watching from the corner of his eye. The woman moved stiffly, her good hand trembling slightly as she lifted her mug. The debuff was persistent. It wasn't fading.
An idea, dangerous and compelling, whispered to him. Could he… remove it? His skills were to apply blessings and curses. Not cleanse. But the System called him Creation Priest. An architect of status. Could an architect not also… demolish?
He had no such skill. But he had 'Invert'. The impossible skill. Blessing becomes Curse. Curse becomes Blessing. If 'Rot-Weakness' was a curse… inverting it would turn it into a blessing. What would a 'Rot-Strength' blessing even be? The thought was terrifying.
And it cost one hundred mana. He had thirty-one.
He finished clearing the table and retreated to the kitchen, his heart pounding. The world was full of status effects he didn't understand, dangers his Class was seemingly built to interact with. And he was powerless.
After the rush died down, Elara cornered him by the sink. "You're pushing yourself too hard," she said, her voice low and serious. "You're pale. You look like you haven't slept. Is it the exam? Is it Alex?"
"It's everything," Kai admitted, the truth slipping out. He was tired of lying to the one person who cared. "I have to be stronger, Aunt Elara. The world out there… it doesn't forgive weakness."
Her face softened, then hardened with a protective ferocity that took his breath away. "Listen to me. You are not weak. Strength isn't just about what class some Tower decides to give you. It's here." She tapped his temple. "And here." She placed a hand over his heart. "Your parents were strong. Not just in rank. They were clever. They were kind. That bracelet… your mother said it was for 'seeing the other side of the coin.' I never understood what she meant. But she believed in balance, in nuance. Don't forget that."
Seeing the other side of the coin. Invert. The words resonated with the skill in his soul. A shiver ran down his spine.
"I won't forget," he whispered.
That afternoon, he returned to the courtyard with a new determination. Not just to grind mana. To understand. He focused on the 'Minor Curse of Heaviness'. He cast it on his own left hand, letting the violet light soak in. The familiar dragging weight settled into his muscles.
But this time, he didn't just endure it. He Analyzed himself.
[Self: Kai.]
[Status: 'Minor Curse of Heaviness (Applied by Self)'. Effect: Localized gravity increase ~5%.]
He focused on the sensation, the concept of heaviness. He tried to feel the mana structure of the curse, the way it hooked into his body's natural state. It was like trying to read the blueprint of a building by feeling the wall. But he felt… something. A faint pattern of pressure, of intent.
He let the curse expire. Then, he immediately cast 'Minor Blessing of Agility' on the same hand. The golden light brought a tingling lightness. He Analyzed again.
[Status: 'Minor Blessing of Agility (Applied by Self)'. Effect: Localized neural/muscular response increase ~5%.]
The pattern was different. Not a hook, but a… boost. A catalyst.
He spent hours doing this. Curse, analyze, feel. Bless, analyze, feel. Empty his mana, wait, refill, repeat. It was grueling, mind-numbing work. The headache evolved into a full migraine. But with each cycle, his sense of the two basic skills deepened. They weren't just buttons to press. They were subtle tools he was learning the shape of.
As the sun began to set, casting long shadows in the courtyard, his mana sat at [38/38]. Nine points gained. The rate was increasing. The exertion wasn't just about emptying the pool; it was about the depth of his engagement with the skills. Understanding had weight. Comprehension had cost. And it paid in mana.
He was on his ninth cycle when he heard a low, menacing growl.
At the back gate of the courtyard, a stray hound had pushed its way in. It was a scrawny, vicious-looking thing with matted fur and glowing, faintly yellow eyes. City strays were common, but this one looked wrong. Analyze flickered on.
[Target: Canine (Urban). Status: 'Severe Malnutrition', 'Rabid Aggression', 'Mana-Tainted (Minor)'.]
Mana-tainted. It had scavenged something from a low-level Gate or a dumped monster core. It wasn't a monster, but it was more than a dog.
The dog locked its eyes on Kai, saliva dripping from its jaws. It coiled to spring.
Kai's mind went cold and clear. This wasn't Alex. This was life and death. His mana was at 12 after his last experiment. He had one cast.
The dog lunged. Its movement was fast, twisted by the mana taint.
Kai didn't have time to dodge. He raised his cursed-left hand out of instinct, but that wasn't a shield.
He acted. Not on the dog. On himself.
He cast 'Minor Blessing of Agility' on his own legs.
The golden light seared through his fatigue. His muscles thrummed with sudden, responsive energy. He threw himself sideways not a second too soon. The dog's snapping jaws closed on empty air where his ankle had been.
THUD. The dog skidded on the flagstones, scrambling to turn.
Kai was already up, his heart a drum solo in his chest. The blessing was fading. He had maybe fifteen seconds. The dog was turning, growling louder. He had no weapon. He was a Creation Priest. He had one curse left in his pool, and it was recharging slowly.
He couldn't curse the dog to slow it—he needed it to stop.
See the other side of the coin.
The dog lunged again, a straight-line charge.
Kai didn't back away. He stepped into the charge, his blessed legs giving him the speed to match the move. He sidestepped at the last possible moment, like a matador. As the dog's body passed him, he reached out and slapped his bare right hand onto its mangy flank.
Not an attack. A delivery.
He cast 'Minor Curse of Heaviness'.
The violet light shot directly into the dog's body at point-blank range.
The effect was instantaneous and dramatic. The dog, mid-stride, was yanked downward as if an invisible anvil had landed on its back. Its legs buckled. It crashed to the stone with a pained yelp and a sickening CRACK of bone. It wasn't dead, but it was pinned, whining and struggling against the sudden, overwhelming weight on its entire body.
Kai stared, panting. His mana hit zero. The blessing on his legs faded, leaving them feeling like lead. The dog writhed under the invisible force.
He had done it. He'd used his power in combat. Not for damage. For control. A 5% localized increase was one thing. A 5% increase on an entire creature's body mass, applied during a dynamic leap, was catastrophic.
The dog stopped moving, trapped by its own weight, its ribs likely fractured. It whimpered.
Kai felt no triumph. Only a cold, sickening realization. His power was situational. Devastatingly so. Against a faster, smarter foe, he'd be dead. He had won through terrain, timing, and a desperate gamble.
He heard the back door open. "Kai? What was that noise— OH!"
Elara stood in the doorway, a rolling pin in her hand. She saw the trapped, whimpering dog, saw Kai standing over it, pale and shaking.
"It… it attacked," Kai said, his voice rough.
Elara's eyes went from the dog to her nephew. She saw not a victorious hunter, but a scared boy who had done what he needed to survive. The militia was called. Two guards in grey uniforms came, took one look at the mana-tainted dog, and put it down with a swift, practiced strike.
One of them glanced at Kai. "Lucky. These tainted strays can be nasty. You're fast on your feet, kid."
Kai just nodded, the lie tasting like ash. He wasn't fast. He'd made himself fast. For twelve seconds.
That night, the bracer on his wrist felt different. He was examining it when another line of text, faint and almost hidden, appeared under its description.
[Paradox Bracer (Sealed - Bonding 7%).]
[Bonding increases through conceptual understanding and conflict resolution.]
Conflict resolution. Surviving an attack counted. Understanding his skills counted.
And his mana pool? After the adrenaline crash, after the deep, bone-weary fatigue from the fight and the day's grinding, he checked.
[Mana: 45/45.]
Seven points from the fight. Seven points from facing death and using his power under pressure. The gain was massive. The cost was a tremble in his hands that wouldn't stop.
He had five days. Fifty-five mana to go. The path was no longer just grinding. It was understanding. It was conflict.
He looked out his small window at the neon-lit city, at the distant Towers piercing the bruised night sky. Somewhere in this city, Alex was training his body, confident in his future combat class.
Kai closed his eyes, the phantom sensation of the dog's matted fur under his palm. He had fought a beast today with a whisper of weight and a flicker of speed.
Soon, he would have to fight a human.
And he needed to be ready.